Week #5 First Full Week In Africa Completed
Weekly Report:
Hello everyone!
This week completes my first whole week in Botswana! Today is day number 10 here, and it's been interesting for sure. The first few days here were pretty tough if I'm being honest. The first meal my companions cooked me was beef with this really popular food called pap (pop) which is a tasteless white play-doh type substance made of maize, it's pretty gross. We eat everything with our hands here, no silverware. However, we went to this stand in Kanye a few days later that sold Modombie (boiled bread ball) which is kind of like a dumpling but just bread, and Seswa (shredded beef). I definitely spelled those wrong but it was delicious and we've since returned a couple of times.
The start of the week was also hard because my trainer wanted to get up at 5:30am for extra studies as opposed to the regular 6:30am. There were only a few days of that before I told him that I couldn't keep doing that. Good news is that I now feel like 6:30am is sleeping in every day.
After the first few days it's been getting easier though, adjusting to the 6:30am- 9:30pm missionary schedule, being away from home, the food, the heat, everything. Not saying it's easy but each day is a little easier than the last. It definitely helps that the people here are so kind and always willing to talk and listen.
On Saturday we started out the day by driving out to a farm where there were 200 big logs that we loaded up and drove to someone's house where we offloaded them. It took us two trips to get all of them. The logs are used to build a square fence type structure in the middle of a "cul-de-sac" of houses. They put a fire in the middle and sacrifice an animal outside the fence and then bring it in to cook it. I'm not sure how exactly accurate that all is but that's what I've been told. The service work was fun cause it was a change from all of the teaching we've been doing.
On Sunday we started walking to church at 7:30AM, picking people up on the way so we could all walk together. We ended up having to run between houses in the 30°C heat since we were running behind (the people walking with us just waited for us between houses so they didn't have to run). By the time we got to church, there were 172 people there and we actually ran out of chairs. I had the privilege of giving a talk on baptism before one of the new members of our wards baptism. I was also able to confirm her as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and confer the Gift of the Holy Ghost to her which was an amazing experience. After church we mingled with everyone for a while and all the kids were sad I buzzed my hair cause they liked it "when I ran my hand through my hair".
Today for P-Day we left Kanye at 3:30AM and drove to Gaborone for a sunrise hike which was pretty cool and we got to see a lot of missionaries. Afterwards, we went to a coffee shop for bottomless hot chocolate and breakfast which was really good. Half of us split off after breakfast and the other half of us went to an outdoor volleyball court where we played for a few hours despite the blaring sun. We got some ice pops and went to a Chinese Market for some pants. It was kind of funny because I didn't even know that Chinese markets existed here. Then we headed back to Kanye for some grocery shopping, a couple of lessons and a devotional to end the day.
Something Funny:
On Saturday we were walking between lessons and a car slammed on the brakes and people quickly started flying out of the car and running towards us, all with a bottle of alcohol in hand. They quickly filed in a line on either side of us for a picture, astonished at the fact that there were white people in Botswana. One guy wanted us to kiss him on either cheek for the camera to which we kindly declined. We said our hellos and talked for a bit, kindly handed them a Word of Wisdom pamphlet, and continued walking. Less than 5 minutes after that another car called us over, also full of people with alcohol in hand, including the driver, and very similar exchanges to the first occurred. I don't know if the cops enforce drunk driving here or not but it was pretty funny.
Something else was on P-Day today. When we were driving to the hike it was pitch black and we were all asleep except for our driver. We all woke up to a rumbling and jostling of the whole car and looked out the windshield to see that we were going too fast to make our turn that apparently had no signage and we were heading straight for the tree line instead. We slid for about 30 feet and then stopped within a foot of the tree line. The funny part was that we were all so tired that we didn't care and instantly fell back asleep.
Spiritual thought/ scripture:
After my first ten days here I can testify that this work isn't easy (at least for me) but that it is so important and so fulfilling to see others accept our Savior Jesus Christ in their lives. I know that when we try our hardest to follow the examples and teachings of Jesus, that God helps us along and strengthens us. That when we simply do our best God will make up the rest and that God sees our efforts. I know that Jesus Christ knows our struggles and that he knows our pains and he comforts us through the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I know all these things because I've experienced them in my life and I've been able to see it in others' lives. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Ether 12:27 - And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Conclusion:
I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the holiday season approaching. I love you all and can't wait to talk next week! GO SIAME (Ho See-Em-Eh).
PS. If you'd like to talk or have any questions you're more than welcome to email me @ heath.miller@missionary.org
Love, Elder Miller
Pictures:
Large family we are teaching. We were looking for a lady we had been teaching and found some members of her family instead. They wanted to have a lesson and were loving everything they were learning. The kids kept raising their hands to ask really good questions. The lady here mostly speaks Setswana so she was happy that we had a Book of Mormon in Setswana to share with her. She said that they would be at church Sunday and they were! They even brought another family with them who wanted to learn. Summit of Hike
Our Hiking Group
Wire and can cars kids make and run around with.
Ice Pop. They save us in the heat.
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